Tree stands are generally well known in the sport of hunting. Such tree stands typically include a hunter support platform placed in a tree at some distance above the ground, and a mechanism, such as a ladder, to allow the hunter to climb up to, and down from, the tree stand. With the advent of archery hunting seasons, such tree stands have become ever more popular.
A rudimentary tree stand might consist of a simple platform secured to a tree at a height of 10-20 feet above the ground. Such a platform may be constructed either on-site or off-site and transported to the desired location. Once at such a location, it will typically require the combined efforts of several people and one or more ladders to position the platform at the desired height and to secure it to the tree. Once the platform has been so secured, some type of a ladder, such as boards secured to the tree, or a conventional ladder will be required to afford access to, and egress from the simple platform.
Such rudimentary platforms are difficult to make, hard to install, unsafe to use, and are limited to use in only their originally installed position. A platform of lumber, plywood, and the like, is heavy and cumbersome. The need to have several people and several ladders, which must be hauled to a relatively remote hunting location, limits their use. The dangers inherent in attempting to secure the home-built platform to a tree, at a height of 10-20 feet above the ground are obvious. Once the platform has been installed, the task of moving it to a different location restricts its usefulness.
In an effort to overcome some or all of the limitations of these rudimentary tree stands, there has been proposed and implemented a number of portable tree stands which are not intended to be permanently secured to a specific tree. These tree stands are often characterized as ladder stands because they utilize some type of a ladder assembly to allow the user to access the platform which is situated at the top of the ladder. Such ladder stands are inherently unsafe and are still difficult to install. The base of the ladder or other stand can be secured to the base of a tree or supporting pole while the user is standing on the ground. The problem arises in the securement of the upper portion of the ladder or stand to the tree or pole at the top of the stand or ladder. It involves the user climbing up the stand, while the upper end of the stand is still not secured, and the lack of securement of the upper end of the stand while the user is situation at the top of the stand.
Ladder stands of this type need to be leaned against the tree. There is no provision for the securement of the upper end of the stand to the tree other than to climb the ladder and to secure the top of the ladder, while balancing at the top of the ladder. If the ladder slips, or if the user suffers a loss of balance, the result is a possibly very dangerous fall. In view of the fact that tree stands are typically installed in remote locations, the risk of such a fall, and of possible debilitating injury, is a very serious deterrent to the use of such ladder stands. More than 50% of accidents that occur in connection with deer hunting involve tree stands. Such accidents typically involve the hunger falling from the stand. Erecting of tree stands also is a cause of such accidents.
Various other types of tree stands, other than the ladder stands described above, are also available to the hunter and sportsman. They are often intended to be assembled at a point of use and may have a large number of components that have to be bolted or otherwise secured together. If a part is lost or malfunctions during the assembly process, the user must either carry a supply of space parts or must leave the intended point of installation, usually in a relatively remote location, and must obtain the needed part. Even when such other stands, climbers or tree stands have been assembled, they are still inherently dangerous because they have to be secured, at their upper end, to the tree or other support, by the user who is forced to climb up to the top of the stand, while it is not yet secured or attached, at its upper end, to the tree or pole. This inherently unsafe type of securement requirement characterizes the majority of commercially available tree stands.